Bleeding Child
by Vanilla Toxins
Summary: As the dynamic duo ventures through the heavily behemoth-infested Gran Pulse, a terrifying attack sends Lightning fighting about her wits as she struggles to save Hope's life. "It's not a question of can or can't. There are some things in life you just do."


_"It's not a question of can or can't. There are some things in life you just do." _

That was the wretched phrase she had uttered shortly before the behemoth leaped in a clumsy haste down from the upper cliffs, and landed with an unpleasant thud between her and the shell-shocked, silver-haired boy. It snarled and, before neither she or her younger partner could react, quickly snatched him up in its wet, glistening jaws.

"Hope!" Lightning screeched, rushing forward with her gleaming gunblade at the ready as the enormous monster frenziedly shook Hope about in its bloodied mouth. The helpless teen was screaming in merciless agony the entire time, and Light nearly wanted to squeeze her cold, sapphire eyes shut tight and wake up from the nightmare.

However, that wasn't going to happen. The reality was here. Now.

As she bolted toward the enemy, shrieking a hoarsely raw battle cry, hot, angry tears flew fast behind her in a small trail. Lightning slashed her blade in a blind rage at the side of the behemoth's mouth, and it growled fiercely in turn. The great beast whipped its head around to face her, and the jerky motion caused Hope to slip to the side a bit in its fangs. Lightning made a pained expression as she watched as Hope's garments become easily torn by the behemoth's dangerously sharp teeth, revealing scarlet stripes of blood underneath. "Light," Hope managed to choke out, "help... me..."

Trembling with the purest of fury, the young woman kicked back dirt and small chunks of rock as she sprinted forward and halted before the ravaging beast. In one smooth, liquid motion, she flashed her arm out and across the chest of the behemoth, halting when her sword reached the heart so that she could dig it vehemently into its broad chest. The animal roared furiously, instantly dropping Hope roughly to the ground to paw frantically in Lightning's direction. Dodging its jagged claws, she dashed to Hope's side and gently shook him. "Hope!"

The small body weakly responded. "G-get... out of the way," he gasped, struggling to tug at his friend's arm.

"Not without you," she replied sternly, pulling the boy into her arms.

Ah, I'm sorry... about of this..." Hope apologized as he was cradled softly, clutching his battered boomerang with frustration. "I'm just so... so weak. I'm always b-bringing others d-down."

Lightning sighed as she watched him pathetically struggle to get the words out of his mouth. "Save it," she said simply. A moment passed. "It's okay," she added more gently. Tender words like that, she rarely uttered. They were reserved for few individuals, and Hope was one of them. She cared for him like an older sister.

Glancing back over her shoulder, the ex-soldier cursed as the enraged behemoth returned its focus to the duo. "Gotta run," she muttered. Hope nodded in answer. Lightning stood up, keeping Hope in her grasp the best she could. She carried him as she fled with all the swiftness she could muster, wincing at the hot breath she felt at the back of her neck; the roaring of the monstrous creature seemed so impossibly close. Suddenly pivoting around, Light cast a Slow spell directly at its hideous face. The behemoth was hit with a small wave of sluggishness, as if its muscles had frosted over.

"Yes," Hope cheered victoriously, and Light even cracked a slight smile at his soft indication of satisfaction.

Because the behemoth's speed had decreased drastically, they could escape to the safety of the lower rocks without being caught and torn to messy shreds. Resting her friend on the flattest patch of stones in sight, Lightning wasted no time in studying the total damage of his injuries. "How bad is it?" she asked dully, not sure she wanted to hear his reply.

"Not as bad as it could be," Hope smiled weakly, grunting with pain when Lightning felt for the most serious areas of concern. "I got lucky."

"Yeah. I'm surprised you weren't mauled to death," Lightning frowned. "Idiot. Always be on your guard."

"I'll keep that in mind." Hope displayed a strained smile through clenched teeth, still whimpering with the extreme discomfort. Salty tears were pooling in his minty green eyes.

"Oh god," Lightning murmured, beginning to get overwhelmed with all the torn flesh and oozing blood. "Hope, I know you're the better Medic, but I'll try to heal the wounds the best I can." Hope nodded simply, as talking was becoming quite tiring for the boy.

Urging the magic to resonate within her chest, she pulled the healing spell from its hearth and channeled the Cure magic through her fingers, ultimately allowing it to flow out and over Hope's body. As expected, her weak, lower-level spell wasn't enough. Cursing madly, Lightning continued to cast the spell over and over again, growing more frustrated by the passing minutes. Hope's condition was becoming gradually better, but the process was so agonizingly slow and Lightning was becoming frantic, which was very unlike her.

She gritted her teeth. "I'm trying, Hope. Just hang in there." The woman sighed and brushed her sweaty bangs aside. _Damn. My healing magic isn't good enough,_ she thought miserably.

Hope gave out a soft moan and rolled over a bit. Lightning studied the effects of her medical attempts, taking note that all of the minor scratches and bite marks were healed almost completely. However, her biggest concern was the large, twin gash marks ripped across the side of his abdomen. They continued to bleed profusely, despite the spell that Light cast to slow the progress of their bleeding.

Easily sensing his partner's distress, Hope flickered his eyes up at her and sat up slightly. "Hey," he coughed. "I can try it myself." Seeing as her options very severely limited, Lightning nodded and allowed him to take over.

Hope fluttered his lashes downward and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He was summoning his most powerful cure magic, Lightning observed. Then, the teen snapped his eyes open, and greenish light suddenly danced away from his palm and flooded over his side, engulfing the wounds with its incredible strength. After several Curasa spells, he quickly followed up with a few Curaga commands to effectively seal away any remaining damage. Satisfied, Hope flopped back down onto the dirt and exhaled deeply.

"Nicely done," Lightning breathed. She stood up. "Are you in too much pain, or can we keep moving?"

"I... I can walk." Hope shifted a bit to the right, which caused him to inhale sharply. Wincing, he slowly got to his feet and dusted himself off. His shredded clothes clung to his body only because of the abundance of sticky blood covering his skin.

Lightning released a long, extended breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Right, let's go." She set off in the direction of the freshwater pool they'd sighted earlier, beginning at a steady trot. Though he was limping slightly, Hope did his best to follow closely behind.

* * *

_A/N: Gah, I love how Lightning gets all motherly around Hope. So heartwarming! But anyway, where were Snow, Vanille, Fang, or Sazh when all this happened...?! Haha, whaaaatever._

_Sooo, I really love the quote I put at the beginning. I was just thinking about it so much that I got the sudden impulse to write a short story about it, heh. I forgot the context in which she says it in the actual game, though. Hmm... could someone please remind me? ^.^=_


End file.
